Misunderstood
by JasonSmiler7
Summary: From the fifth year (Order of the Pheonix) not all of it will be perfect, a lot of it will be made up but same characters and SS/HG romance... eventually anyway
1. Chapter 1

Hermione was woken by her bedside alarm clock roaring at her to get up so that she could shower and pack the last of her things before leaving to start her fifth year at Hogwarts. Groaning for a moment, she swiped her arm over to the drawers where the alarm clock was and knocked it off to stop it from making any more noise, without opening her eyes, then dug her arm underneath her pillow and told herself _'just five more minutes'_. It was only half past 5, but by the time she'd showered and got her hair to look as less frizzy as she could be bothered, there wouldn't be much time left at all. Right now she didn't care, she was far too tired and never was a morning person, her body clock was still in holiday mood and she wasn't going to be moving any time soon. She'd just managed to settle back down and started a peaceful dream about her passing all of her NEWT's when her bedroom door slammed open. Her whole body jolted in shock and her eyes opened immediately, she sat up and stared at her furious looking mother who stood there against the wall, arms folded and looking directly at her. Without saying a word, Hermione got up and brushed past her into the bathroom as she started to get ready for the busy morning that she had ahead of her.

The clock had just turned eight when Hermione was stood in the living room checking through her suitcase making sure that she had everything that she needed whilst her parents stood with their arms around each other, thinking of how much they were going to miss their only child. "Take care 'Mione" her dad said to her, "I've got to leave for work now, but I want you to return our letters please, and do go careful with those two friends of yours. Chosen one or not, he is not getting my daughter killed by some snake-faced crazed wizard man" he said sternly, thinking about ways he'd punish her friends if they let anything happen to her, he was the protective dad kind but her mother was just as protective, Hermione was their only child. Hermione nodded avoiding to roll her eyes at them both as she looked up "I'll be fine, I'm safe at Hogwarts" she said trying to sound reassuring, "besides, I've got a lot of work to do this year" she smiled. Her mum let out a soft laugh and her dad smiled, "that's our girl, you focus on your work" he said before walking over to her and kissing her head "Goodbye love" he said again as he turned to the door and left before she could say anything back. She knew it was hard for her parents, not knowing the full story about Voldemort or knowing if she was safe or not, she'd told them bits but not everything, she couldn't do that, they'd stop her from going if she did. "He'll be fine, he's just worried about you that's all... we both are" her mum said, as if she knew exactly what Hermione had thought._ 'How does she do that?_' Hermione picked up her suitcase and followed her mum to their Black BMW outside, the journey was silent but not awkward, Hermione liked to listen to the radio when she was in the car and her mum wasn't much of a conversationist, she occasionally made small talk but not now, Hermione guessed that she was over-worrying everything in her head but decided to stay quiet and not attempt to reassure her.

They arrived at the train station and hugged, shedding a few tears on each other's shoulder before Hermione boarded her train to Hogwarts. She was nervous about seeing Harry and Ron but also a little angry too; they hadn't written to her to invite them to either the Burrow or the Order's headquarters. 'I'm going to kill them both'. She couldn't be bothered to find them on the train and just entered a cabin that had Luna, Neville and Seamus in. It was close to the exit and the bathroom where she could change into her robes and she didn't mind these people as such, better than sitting with Lavender Brown who non-stop talked about Ron, she really did despise that girl. Hermione settled down beside Luna and listened to Seamus who as trying to impress them all with some spell that he'd 'overheard' where he tried to turn his water into rum... resulting in nothing more than a load of smoke and Seamus being left red-faced in embarrassment. They all shared a laugh and then talked about the usual stuff that young teenage wizards and witches talked about, Hermione just listened and nodded a few times not paying much attention, she was far too mature for her age but enjoyed the company and not sitting in a cabin on her own and it was nice to not be around Harry and Ron for a change with Harry moaning all the time and Ron saying something ridiculously stupid to try to cheer him up, it was nice to listen to something a bit different for a change.

When Hermione had got back from putting on her robes the three of them looked at her with a 'you're never going to believe this' look on their faces. She moved her eyes on each one of them and nervously sat down to where she had sat before. "What is it?" she asked as Neville gulped and looked at Seamus who shifted awkwardly and looked at Hermione. "Luna's just told us that there's going to be another defence against the dark arts teacher". Hermione relaxed a little, she had obviously been expecting the worst, it was what she always did. "That's not _that _bad. By the look on your faces I thought someone had been let out of Azkaban" she laughed. Neville shook his head "Luna's dad says that it's someone from the ministry" he said before adding; "And you know what the ministry are like, they're going to want to take over the school... and well... if it's true about... you-know-who returning... then how are we supposed to defe-" Seamus cut him off "That's all a load of bullshit Longbottom, he can't come back, Dumbledore told us all that ages ago". Neville still looked uncertain and Hermione just about managed to avoid arguing with Seamus. "Well it's not all that bad, come on that job is _cursed_. No one has ever lasted, who's to say this one will" Hermione said, quite impressed with how well she had reacted to Seamus basically calling Harry a liar. "I suppose you're right..." Neville said. The train finally came to a stop and they all headed out as they were greeted by Hagrid who guided them all up to the castle.

Hermione squeeled as she was poked in the ribs from behind, she turned around with her fist clenched in full force where a rather scared Ron looked "Whoa, it's only me, bloody hell" he said as Harry stood beside him laughing. She lowered her fist, not sure whether to hug them both or hex them. "And where have you two been!?" she yelled at them, looking at both of them annoyed. Harry's smile faded, "Sorry Hermione, I was going to return your letter but I've had a nightmare of a summer" he said looking rather tired and sighing as he scratched his head. She turned to look at Ron, '_I'm not even going to ask you'_ She turned back around and carried on walking to the castle, Harry and Ron both exchanged glances and shrugged, following behind her as they entered the great hall and sat in their houses on the benches.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus looked up from where he was sat, next to Minerva and the new Defence teacher Dolores Umbridge. The woman's face expressed similar features of a toad, she was pale skinned and wore pink everything. She was Severus' complete opposite of an ideal woman, and if she even dared to try and make conversation with him, he would not be in control of his actions. To Severus' delight, she seemed to have feared him and didn't dare to look at him twice. Instead she leaned forward and started to talk to Minerva, Severus' pupils dilated as scanned through the different houses at all the students who looked disgusted at the woman on his left. Some of them were already making jokes about her and he half-smiled as he eavesdropped on what some of his Slytherin students were saying, listening to them already plan on making her teaching career here at Hogwarts ultimate hell for her. 'I'm really going to enjoy this year' His thoughts stopped and his not quite half-smile faded as she laughed, it was possibly the worst laugh laugh he'd ever heard. She leaned back in her chair giggling rather loudly to herself and Severus looked at Minerva who quickly glanced back to Sever 'help' she mouthed to him, and he shrugged smirking at her. It was Dumbledore who ended all the conversation and laughter in the room, after the new first years had been sorted into their new houses, he stood up to make one of his speeches. "Good evening wizards and witches" he smiled, looking down on them all. "Now that we are all settled, I would like to introduce our new Defence against the dark arts teacher-" The woman in pink stood up cutting Dumbledore off, the old man looked taken back but nodded at her and sat down, Severus was actually laughing inside 'Oh I'm going to have so much fun making this woman's life hell' he arched an eyebrow as the toad began to speak. "Hello young children" she said in her squeaky voice, before giving another horrible giggle which made Severus shiver in disgust as he watched the students, knowing that the majority of them were planning this woman's funeral already. "I am Professor Umbridge, and it gives me great pleasure to have come from the Ministry to teach you all" she said feeling and looking rather impressed with herself "You should all be honoured to have the me here teaching you and I'm sure we're all going to have such great fun together" she squeaked, grinning. Severus was nearly in hysterics inside, but still managed to portray his usual expressionless face, 'Oh yes, we are going to have a lot of fun'. He caught Minerva smirking at him through the corner of his eye, she knew exactly what he was thinking, and by the look on her face, she was planning the same as him.

After a lot of babbling, Umbridge finally sat down back next to Severus, and everyone sarcastically clapped her, but of course she didn't know they were doing it sarcastically. Severus wasn't paying any attention anymore, his arm had started to itch a little, he wasn't being summonned, it was just a false alarm for some plan the Death Eaters had tonight, but it was still causing him a lot of bother. Noticing that he wasn't clapping, Umbridge nudged him and he gave her a split second of a deadly look, before giving her that smug smirk and clapped his hands slowly. Minerva started to laugh to herself, the staff had all clearly taken an instant disliking to the then looked at his food as everyone started to stuff their faces, he nudged a bit of bacon around the plate with his fork; he really wasn't feeling hungry and just wanted to slump back to the dungeons to his office and try to get some sleep. He'd spend a lot of the summer being summonned and was badly injured although his pale skin covered a lot of the scars that he had. His arm started to burn now, this could only mean that something bad had happened. 'Oh God... this is going to be bad'. He noticed Flitwick was leaving early and decided to follow him out, making small talk with him on the way before turning to the driveway he headed down towards the gate and glanced to check that he was completely out of site before applying his mask and cloak then answering the summoning.

He couldn't quite tell where he was, it was some sort of abandonned forrest. He heard Voldemort's laugh, that was never a good sign, he stood alone unable to see much "lumos" he said gesturing his wand as it lit up so he could just about see his surroundings. There were just trees everywhere and a few shadows, then the Dark Lord appeared right in front of him still laughing. "Ah, my spy" he hissed moving close to him, the stench of blood and flesh made Severus' stomach churn. 'I'm glad I avoided that bacon'. "My lord" he bowed, "I didn't expect to be summonned tonight" he said to his 'master'. Voldemort laughed again; "Can you think of a reason why I only summonned you Severus?" he hissed again and his eyes narrowed, if that was even possible. Severus felt the pulse in his neck twitch, "Because I deserve to be punished...my lord" he mumbled. "And why do you need to be punished Severus?" he asked gripping his wand and pointing it at him. To what would shock most, Severus didn't even look scared. He was so used to this happening now, and he would welcome death like it was Christmas. He stared at the want pointing at him then at the Dark Lord, "because... Potter wasn't at the Burrow... where I told you he would be... master" he said slowly, he closed his eyes, he was so used to lying to Voldemort, but thanks to Occlumency he managed to keep many things from Voldemort. He didn't reply, he just hissed again then screamed "CRUCIO".

* * *

Hermione headed to the hospital wing after finishing her meal, she had been doing a lot of studying on healing and was interested in becoming a nurse like Madam Pomfrey. She wasn't really sure if it was just a phase but she wanted to know if she could start learning and practising. She was just about to enter the hospital wing when she noticed something on the floor right by the door of the hospital wing. She recognised the cloak, the dark hair and pale, long, thin fingers. _Professor Snape?_ She stared for a moment, he seemed to be unconscious. Slowly walking towards him, she tried to steady her breathing, he wasn't the most friendliest of teachers. Just as she reached him, the door swung open and Poppy Pomfrey stood there "Miss Granger, you're early! I..." she stared at the unconscious teacher on the floor horrified, she bent down to lift him up "Oh Severus..." she said sympatheticly. She dragged him over to the bed, he was completely out of it. "Miss Granger, the timing is unfortunate, anyway to cut to the chase, you may start learning healing, however it is Professor Snape that you will be healing, no don't look at me like that Hermione I've no time to explain to you, go through there and talk to Dilys the portrait, she'll explain everything and you can read Sever- Professor Snape's medical records, no stop Hermione, I can't answer any questions right now, please go make yourself some tea, it's going to be a long night". She sighed, then turned to Snape and started muttering healing charms as he whimpered with every word. Hermione was sure he was probably in 100 times the pain that he was actually showing, she cringed looking at the tangled body, sprawled across the hospital bed. Then turned to the kitchen part of the hospital wing and settled down with a mug of tea as Dilys the portrait explained to her the life of Severus Snape, she told Hermione everything about him being bullied by Potter and Black from school and being neglected all his life, explained why he joined the Death Eaters and that he was somewhat of a double agent for Dumbledore.

Tears streamed from Hermione's eyes as she slowly started to take all of this in. "Professor Snape, a spy? A good spy? He's on our side? After all this time?" she asked confused and feeling frustrated with herself for everything she'd ever said and thought about him over the years. Dilys smiled "Yes, he's really quite not that bad" she said. Hermione laughed, "this is _the _Professor Snape right? Are you sure this isn't some kind of joke?" she said shaking her head "Sorry... it's all just so much to take in all at once... I see how the timing is so unfortunate". She said, recalling a memory of her setting fire to Snape's leg in her first year at Hogwarts, she laughed to herself remembering his reaction to his leg being on fire then remembered how ill he had just looked. "Will he be alright?" she asked. "Yes, this isn't the worst we've seen him in... unfortunately Hermione". Hermione looked at her mug feeling fully ashamed of herself with how she'd been. _But he's still that greasy bastard. He still stuck up for Malfoy. He... He's lying there in severe pain and I'm here holding on to petty grudges._She sat up straight as Madam Pomfrey entered "Miss Granger, here" she handed her the medical records. "Read this in your own time, you should get back to your common room now though. I'd have liked to have told you everything myself but, Hermione now you must promise me that you won't repeat this to anyone, not Potter, not Weasely-" "I won't Madam Pomfrey, I promise" Hermione said, this was non of their business and Hermione was allowed to have her own secrets. Poppy smiled "I'll get Dilys to tell you when I need you again, or it might be Phineas". Hermione placed her mug on the table "Okay... is he going to be alright Madam Pomfrey?" she asked, glancing over at her still unconscious Potions master. "Please, call me Poppy when we're here. He will, yes" she said. "Now leave quickly, Filch is on duty tonight and we know what he's like".

Hermione reached the Gryfindor common room and silently cried herself to sleep remembering all those horrible things she'd heard that had happened to Snape. _How could Sirius do this? No... Snape is still that greasy haired bastard. He's been neglected though... all his life, and he regretted becoming a Death Eater, that's why he's doing all this._ She shook her head, Snape had been hard enough to understand without her knowing about his childhood and him being some sort of James Bond hero like figure. This was going to take a while to sink in. She pulled Crookshanks close to her and cuddled him, petting him softly as she fell asleep.

* * *

_I know I've probably rushed this a little. I think I got too carried away, but it's going to take Hermione a lot of time to come to terms with this. The next meeting won't be for a few months now. And she won't be reading much of the book any time soon either. Severus doesn't know that she was there either, and he won't do for quite some time._


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione woke up the next morning as feel as rough as ever. She'd had nightmares of her potions master being brutally beaten and bullied by The Maraurders. She sat up and looked at Crookshanks, stroking his fur as she looked around at the girls in their beds who were all still sleeping. She was up half an hour early than what they all usually woke up at to start getting ready. Hermione rested her head back against the head-board on her bed and sighed to herself quietly, closing her eyes as she tried to avoid thinking about everything she'd learned about Professor Snape's life so far. She opened her eyes slowly and looked a the book on her bed-side cabinet, it was Snape's medical records that Madam Pomfrey had given to her. _There's no chance I'm ready to read that yet_. _I can only just about manage to come to terms with it... let alone once I've learned the detail. _She shuddered for a second thinking about what could be in the contents of those medical records. She was a kind person and would try to always avoid putting anyone in any sort of pain. She'd always want to help people who were in pain also. Even if it was Professor Snape, maybe his behaviour and personality could be completely different underneath those high walls he'd built around himself. She wasn't sure and at the moment she wasn't ready to find out. Her thoughts were stopped by a sudden whisper coming from the picture frame behind her. "Miss Granger" Dilys whispered; startled, Hermione turned to face the portrait without saying anything as the portrait began to speak; "Poppy didn't tell you last night because she had her hands full, but we've both decided that perhaps it's for the best that you don't tell Professor Snape that you were there last night or anything about you learning healing... he doesn't need any more stress either" she added. Hermione nodded, understanding that Professor Snape was so closed away from everyone and would be horrifyingly angry if he found out that the so-called 'know-it-all' Hermione Granger had seen him in so much pain. She shivered as she remembered the state he had been in the night before. "I understand" she said calmly, forcing those images to the back of her head. "I'll be in touch Hermione" the portrait said, she disappeared from her frame before Hermione had the chance to even open her mouth. Hermione moved off her bed and went to get ready, she had potions first thing. _This isn't going to be easy_.

Hermione entered the potions classroom and couldn't resist looking at the potions master. _He looks... just like normal._ She found it hard to believe that it was only the only the night before when she had seen him in so much pain, he was unconscious and unable to move and now he was moving fine as his hands prepared the ingredients for the potion he was now making, he didn't lift his head once away from the potion he'd just told them all to revise. She caught herself watching him for what had been half of the lesson now, she was amazed by his movements. He was clearly way too over-skilled for his job. He made every touch look so effortless, his long and thin fingers moved so quickly as he chopped and peeled and poured his ingredients. It was only until Seamus had managed to blow up his potion that her gaze on him had broken, she turned her head to face him and helped him clear up, holding back a laugh. Snape looked up and sighed, muttering something under his breath and then continued with making his potion. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle all looked over at Seamus and smirked. "Pathetic half-blood" Malfoy said in disgust, Snape flinched at the use of the word but remained calm and continued to make his potion, ignoring what had been said. Sometimes he forgot that there were very few people who knew his blood status, it was unusual for a Slytherin to be a half-blood, let alone the head of Slytherin house. Seamus shrugged it off not seeming too bothered with what Malfoy had said, Hermione however reacted in an unusual way to what she normally would've done. It shouldn't have bothered her and wouldn't have done if she'd had more sleep, but under these circumstances she clearly wasn't one to mess with. "Oh shut up Malfoy!" she snapped and they snickered back at her, looking at her as if she was something unpleasant from off the floor. "And who are _you_? To tell _me_ to shut up?" his eyes narrowed and his two friends laughed repeating what he said in a rather pathetic way. "Need I remind you of your own blood status, Granger." The whole class fell silent as they all nervously awaited a reply from Hermione, who was raging inside and fighting tears back from her eyes, _Don't you dare you little prick. If you use that word I will NOT be responsible for my actions._ They all jumped out of their skin when the table in front of them was slammed, they turned around to see what had caused the noise. "I told you to revise, not bicker with each other about your blood types" the potions master barked his eyes were fixed on Draco as if he was only talking to him, his hands were on the table still and the potions they'd been practising were still swaying in their cauldrons. Hermione caught herself watching Snape again, looking at his hands that were not so far away from her own, she quickly stared at Draco hoping that Snape hadn't noticed her looking at him. Draco went almost bright-red, he hated being in trouble with his head of house. He turned back to his cauldron and ignored the slight smirk that Seamus had given him afterwards. Snape was already back in his seat focusing on his own potion again when Hermione had turned back around, _did Professor Snape just stick up for me? Why was he only staring at Draco?_. She doubted it and concluded his behaviour to him being tired and in pain and just generally wishing he was elsewhere right now. Seamus smiled at Hermione, "you didn't have to do that for me" he whispered. Hermione returned his smile then turned back to her book to study some ingredients for the current potion she was learning.

* * *

Severus was sat in his room, he hadn't bothered showing up for dinner as he really couldn't stomach anything. It had taken a lot of occlumency for him to be able to at least look normal, but he was far away from being able to keep any food down him. His presence wouldn't have been missed anyway as he wasn't exactly popular among the staff at Hogwarts. Instead Severus had been trying to work out why Dilys, Poppy and Phineas had been acting strange with him. He was far from stupid, he knew that something was going on and had a good idea that he wasn't going to like it. He wasn't worried about it as such, he didn't feel that things could get much worse for him right now, and was just feeling grateful to be back at school just because the Dark Lord wouldn't summon him as much. As much as he hated teaching, he would rather be here teaching the students than sitting around at home almost lifeless awaiting for his next summon. No, Severus really didn't have much to live for and thought that his time would soon be up anyway however as sad as it seems he would greet death with a warm welcome right now, he wasn't scared of it one bit. Another thought crossed his mind; why on earth had Miss Granger spent half an hour staring at him? He'd felt her eyes on him all the time but didn't feel the need to look up, he was used to being stared at but Granger wasn't usually the one who did it. _Perhaps Potter has been up to his old tricks and has accused me of something else? Or maybe she was just being nosey and wondered what potion it was I was making? Yes that sounds about right. _Severus' thinking was brought to a stop when there was a knock at his door. Muttering to himself and rolling his eyes he moved over to the door and opened it only to find Minerva stood staring at him. He was about to moan about how late it was and how he really wasn't in the mood when he noticed something in her eyes, she looked terrified. It was as if she had just seen a ghost, or maybe something worse like the Dark Lord himself. He slightly cocked his head to the side "What is it?" he asked coldly but somewhat sort of 'caring' as caring as Professor Snape went anyway. "Please Severus, can I come in?" she asked. This really worried him, her voice was shaky and croaky. He stood aside as she walked in and closed the door behind her then summoned a chair for her to sit on as he rested against the wall opposite her. "Oh Severus" she cried sitting down on the chair and looking at him as if she needed some serious help. "Albus has gone AWOL Severus... And Dolores has taken over. She's in charge of all of us now" she looked very close to tears yet angry and scared at the same time. Severus twitched a sort of smile, "is that it?" he barked softly laughing a little, she didn't look impressed with his reaction. "Minerva, Albus will be back when the time's right, this is perfect" he said almost sounding excited. "I'm sorry Severus, but I fail to see what the bloody hell is so exciting about this" she said sounding annoyed. "We can absolutely torture this woman until she can't take anymore and runs for it" he said with the excitement still in his tone. "The students hate her and with Dumbledore gone, they're bound to give her as much stick as she bloody well deserves, we will let them all run riot and only insist that we thought she could cope if she asks why we aren't helping" he made that almost smile again. "We're going to drive this woman far away Minerva, trust me. I've spent years listening to all the messed up stuff that the students come up with and if they even use half of that on her, she'll be long gone" he said trying to sound reassuring to her now. She smiled at him, finally reassured that it was all going to be fine. "I hope you're right Severus" she said, standing up. Severus snorted, "I think I'm rather going to enjoy this Minerva". She laughed "me too" agreeing with him. "So we just stand by and do nothing?" she asked. "Why not?" Severus replied; "she's so certain that she can do this all on her own, she's going to get a big surprise" he said. On that note Minerva stood by the door and opened it, "I think we can all, as staff, get away with pulling a few stunts of our own too" she said, smirking. "You read my mind" he replied. "Goodnight Severus" she said closing the door behind her, knowing full well that she wasn't going to get one back but not minding as such, her mind was now at rest. Severus seemed a little more relaxed too, and went to bed, managing to get a few hours of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning Hermione had Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing. _Oh just brilliant_. She knew that Professor Umbridge already didn't like her as for some reason she didn't like Harry and whenever she had seen Hermione at breakfast or dinner time or even just passing through the castle, she would give her a very stern look that had 'I don't like you' written all over it. When she entered the room with the rest of her classmates, they all looked around in utter disgust. The room looked as if it had been through some sort of heavy trauma, it had been abused by the colour pink and pictures of kittens all over. Everyone had their own separate desk, Hermione didn't mind this but most students complained about it. She sat on the second row from the front with Harry and Ron either side of her. Draco and his friends went to the seats right at the back of the room. "No, no Mr Malfoy you shall not be sitting there" an familiar annoying voice screeched from the back of the room. Umbridge gestured to the seats behind Harry, Hermione and Ron and the three Slytherin boys did as they were told. Hermione looked at Ron who looked awkwardly back at her obviously feeling uncomfortable with them behind him, then looked over at Harry who was staring directly at Malfoy. Harry's temper had been terrible recently and Hermione knew that if Draco tried anything, or maybe even Umbridge for that matter, that he would really snap and lose control. She tried to catch Harry's eye and make some conversation with him about Cho, Harry was still crazy about her but hadn't brought himself to ask her out or anything. As much as it annoyed Hermione when Harry would go on about how amazing Cho was, she much preferred it to her friend getting himself into an unnecessary fight. He had clearly been through some stress this summer and Dumbledore was setting him off on to trips with him which he apparently had sworn to secrecy to not tell Ron or Hermione about.

"So, this lesson we're going to learn about how Muggle-borns are not to be considered equal to us purebloods". Hermione's fist clenched in anger but she just about managed to bottle it. Harry on the other hand had completely blown and had laughed mockingly at Umbridge. _Oh Harry..._ "Something funny Mister Potter?" Umbridge asked sternly, staring down at him. Harry stared right back at her, "No Professor, I just find this particular subject pathetic and a complete waste of time when Voldemort is out there planning to kill us all" he said, his voice shaking in anger. "How dare you use that name! And I will not listen to your lies Potter" She barked at him. "We need to learn to defend ourselves" Harry replied, standing up to face her. Hermione pulled Harry's arm, pulling him to sit back down as Umbridge looked rather taken back by the sudden burst of rage. Finally calming herself a little, this was her first lesson with this class and she wasn't ready to full on blow her temper, she backed off and said calmly "Detention for you Mr Potter, today after your last lesson, you need to be taught to not tell lies about such serious matters". Hermione couldn't hold back speaking "Professor! Harry was just concerned for us all, there's no need for detention, and I don't think Harry would make all of this up would he?" she said, rather shocked at speaking to a teacher like that. _It doesn't matter, she shouldn't be a teacher. Even Snape is better than this... shit I'm thinking about him again this needs to stop._ "Well you can join 'Harry' in detention then, and we will speak more of this... this...nonsense, then". She had surprisingly remained calm and spoke no more of it as she vanished out of the room. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances and shrugged at one another before joining their classmates in writing what she had written on the blackboard in front of them.

Hermione had just come out of probably the most awkward potions lesson she'd had yet. She had been staring at Snape again, she wasn't sure why, she'd just found his movements amazing and she'd started to think of just how wrong everyone including herself had been about that man. She'd watched him for the entire lesson this time, well until he'd caught her eyes with his own and she'd given him a slight smile. His reaction was rather amusing thinking about it now, he obviously wasn't used to being smiled at. He had tilted his head that slightly that it was barely noticeable but their eyes had been fixed on each other for what seemed like a very long time but realisticly had probably only been a few seconds. It made her duck her head back down at her work in complete embarassment, her face would've probably been the brightest shade of red possible. But she was just glad that he hadn't questionned her or looked particularly angry, she was half expecting him to ask her stay behind, for a change Hermione had been the first one out. She waited outside the classroom for Harry so they could walk to their detention together and she could have a bit of a catch up with him alone. Unfortunately for Hermione, Snape had come out before Harry had, he brushed passed her without saying a word and stormed off heading towards the great hall for dinner. Finally Harry emerged he looked rather embarassed, "I've just had the weirdest conversation with Professor Snape" he said, still in shock and confused slightly as they made their way to Umbridge's office. "Oh?" Hermione replied, _Please tell me it wasn't about me_. "Yeah... he thinks I should start doing this Occlumency thing" Harry said, he obviously hadn't listened to Snape's explanation of what it was. Luckily for him; Hermione had come across it once and knew just about what it was, "Oh, for the nightmares you've been having?" she asked. "Yeah, he thinks that Vol-... you-know-who, can connect with my mind somehow" He replied, still slightly confused. "Well, that would explain the temper on you... Oh don't look at me like that Harry! You've been on edge for ages now even with Ron! All we have to do is tease you slightly and you don't laugh anymore, you just snap and go all miserable. Something's not right Harry and it can't be just stress-" Harry cut her off "Hermione, I'm not going to do it" he shook his head. "You are" he finished, avoiding to look at her. She stopped walking and he halted, looking at her this time, she couldn't think of anything to say. _This is not happening... is this the punishment I get for smiling at him? Typical, bloody bastard. I take back regretting everything I've said about him._ "Snape thinks that, well with you being really clever and everything that erm... well he could teach it to you and then you can help me..." _I wonder if it was Snape that had regarded me as 'really clever'? Obviously he'd said something along them lines... Okay that kind of makes up for it... _Hermione rolled her eyes "Oh go on then, it won't be that bad I suppose" she said smiling slightly. "Not that bad?" Harry said laughing. "Professor Snape... extra lessons... not that bad?!" he continued laughing even more. "Anyway, I thought it was a good idea because me and Snape aren't going to work.. but at least he's trying to help... I suppose" this was all obviously a shock to Harry. Hermione laughed "No, you two would kill each other within 20 minutes. But no, Snape isn't too bad Harry. I've started doing this healing thing you see, with Madam Pomfrey, I thought it would come in handy you know, for when the next war begins... well it's already begun but you get what I mean... I can heal you and Ron if we are ever in need of it and can't get to a hospital" she continued "And well... you're never going to believe this, but Snape's a spy for Dumbledore" she finished, watching his reaction then looking around, they were alone. Harry frowned for a minute then nodded slowly, "right" he said. They continued to walk as Hermione explained more to Harry, but not about him being bullied, that really wasn't for anyone else to know about and Hermione was still struggling to come to terms with it all herself.

They arrived outside Umbridges office, and Harry had been the one who plucked up just enough courage to knock at her door. The door opened, and they both entered the room, it was well... just pink and full of pictures of cats. No human portraits just paintings of kittens on different plates, and a lot of pink. Umbridge gestured to two separate desks, and they both sat down without saying a word. "Take the quills I have set out in front of you, and I want you, Potter, to write: 'I must not tell lies' and you Miss Granger to write: 'I am just a mudblood'. Hermione felt rage build up inside her again but she looked at Harry who had turned around in fury about to completely blow out at her, "Harry... it's alright... let's just get this over with" she said, and they both began to write. Hermione felt a strong burn on the back of her hand, once she'd wrote the sentence she looked at her hand which engraved in blood read 'I am just a mudblood' tears filled her eyes and she looked at Harry, the same had happened to him. "Well, you've both learned your lesson for today, off you go" she said sounding rather pleased with herself. Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she raced out of the office, she ran holding her fist making her way to the abandonned girls bathroom that held the opening to the Chamber Of Secrets. She just wanted to be alone and allow the anger inside her to pass over a little. She turned a corner and froze completely - _You have got to be kidding me_. There stood infront of her was her potions master. _There's just no escaping you is there?_ "Miss Granger, you nearly sent me flying! Now what on earth were you running from? Potter turned into the Incredible Hulk?" he smirked then looked at the rather red hand she was holding with her other hand, he moved one of his towards it "Ah, may I?" he asked. She nodded, moving her free hand away allowing him to see. Tears streamed from her eyes down her face as he scanned her hand. His face was expressionless. He looked at her raising an eyebrow "No questionning who's done this" he muttered. Hermione was unable to speak, and wasn't sure whether she wanted to speak either. "Well running to the bathroom won't help this and how you put up with that annoying ghost in there I'll never know". Realising that his Snape-like humour wasn't cheering her up in any way at all, why he was even trying to do so in the first place he didn't quite understand, but she didn't pick up on the fact that he was trying to make her feel better anyway. Just as well, he thought. "I can give you something for this, Potter will be needing some too I presume?", she nodded "yes sir, thank you". She followed him to the dungeons both of them remaining silent all the way until they got there and Snape found her some cream. "Put some on now and then first thing in the morning, that's all you'll need" he said handing her the cream. "And here's another for Potter" he said giving her another tube of cream. She smiled slightly taking it from him "Thanks again, Professor". He gave her a half-smile and she left the room heading back to the Gryffindor common room.


	5. Chapter 5

Severus was sat in his headquarters in the dungeons as he finished off the last few letters to complete his crossword and tossed the newspaper onto his desk. "Accio" he gestured his wand to the pile of un-marked essays he had on the shelf. They flew from across the room to the desk that he was sitting at. _How fun_, he stared down at the pile looking at it in utter disgust before he started to mark them and began to think about what he had witnessed earlier that evening with Miss Granger. _Umbridge is completely out of control_. He expected her to be harsh, but not like this. He remembered Granger's face, flooded with tears looking up at him for some sort of help, then another thing crossed his mind, _Why the hell has she been smiling at me in lessons and constantly watching my every move?_ he shivered at the thought. Then he started to think about the portraits; Dilys and Phineas had been avoiding him still, and had acted even more strangely when they did see him. Poppy hadn't even been around for ages, she'd just stayed down in the hospital wing. _I'll find out later_. He was enjoying his peaceful nights down in his headquarters without being summonned. He was actually starting to recover properly from the last time, he couldn't remember much of it but the last thing he remembered was grasping hold of the door to the hospital wing before collapsing and as he collapsed he remembered hearing footsteps from outside the hospital wing, as if they were heading towards him and he remembered the confusion at who it could have been. _It couldn't have been Poppy, she rarely left the doors of that place. _He stopped marking the current paper that he was on and stared blankly at the dull wall opposite him he looked as if he'd just seen something horrifying as another thought popped up into his head. _Wait. The sympathetic smiles... Oh no..._ _It couldn't have been... could it? I suppose that would explain all the odd behaviour. Brilliant, that's all I need, an annoying little Gryffindor giving me petty sympathy. I hope they haven't told her anything..._' He really didn't want to have to sit there and put up with Hermione Granger knowing all about his life as some sort of double agent, neither did he want to explain the reasons behind it. _What on earth was she doing down there anyway?_. He threw all of those thoughts astray for now, he wanted a peaceful night. But for once in a probably long, long time, Severus really wished that he was wrong. Severus' arm began to itch and burn slightly, 'it's been a while, I was rather enjoying my time off'. He pulled out his mask and cloak then rolled up his sleeve to answer the call.

* * *

After being told by Phineas that Professor Snape had been summonned, Hermione made her way rather anxiously to the hospital wing. She needed to speak to someone properly about Professor Snape's life, she had to get it all off her chest, she'd said bits to Harry but quite frankly Harry had been too shocked at the fact that Dumbledore had never told him anything of it. She'd also learned that Harry was finding these Horcruxes with Dumbledore and he was destroying them, she was rather frustrated that her and Ron couldn't go with them, they've stood by Harry for so long now, why wasn't Dumbledore letting them go along? She arrived at the hospital wing and was greeted by Poppy who gave her a cup of tea as they sat down on two chairs beside one of the hospital beds. "Hermione, I believe you have something to get off your chest" Poppy said, sipping her tea. Hermione shuffled in her seat and sipped her tea, not knowing where to start; "Yes..." she said awkwardly. "It's about Professor Snape, Madam Pomfrey. I... I'm just struggling to...well come to terms with it all really" she added looking rather nervous about the whole subject. "Well my dear, that's perfectly normal, I wouldn't expect anything less" the nurse smiled. "Severus has been such a key part in this war, he's the reason we have been able to fight back" she added. Hermione shook her head "No, it's not just that. It's about all of this stuff... with Harry's dad... and Sirius" she replied. "Oh, I see. Well I'm not sure how it all started, but I'll do my best to try and explain... some reason for it". She cleared her throat; "Severus grew up in a very rough estate where he lived with his parents. His mother was a very clever witch, and his father was an abusive alcoholic muggle, he w-" Hermione gasped "Professor Snape is a half-blood? But he's head of Slytherin house! Half-blood isn't as bad as what I am considered to be, but still, Slytherin was always a place for pure-bloods" Hermione said, looking at the back of her hand where the words 'I am just a mudblood' were still engraved, it had faded a little and the pain had gone, but it was still visible. Poppy continued; "Yes, he is. Not many people know about his blood type and I hope you aren't going to add to the ones who already know? No? Good, thank you. Now let me continue... Yes, Severus came from a very rough background, he was abused badly by his father. By the time Severus was ready to come to Hogwarts, he was a ruined young boy. He was filled with so much anger and hurt, but he never showed it, not once did he ever show it. It seems he's had these high walls for a very long time Hermione. However, he fell in love..." Poppy paused for a moment and Hermione leaned in closer to her, she wasn't the usual gossiping, bitchy teenager, but this did interest her. "Yes Hermione, Professor Snape, the heartless bastard of a potions master you have, fell in love once. However the young lady didn't feel the same and chose Potter Senior instead. One day James and Sirius were bored, and they saw Severus being friendly with James' girlfriend and well... that's where it all started. Severus was picked on by the Maraurders; James, Sirius, Remus and Peter... all through Hogwarts".Poppy paused and drank some more of her tea as she allowed Hermione moments to take it all in, "Wow... I'd never have thought this" Hermione said, feeling rather sad and sympathetic for Snape. Then she sadness faded, _his reaction would be hilarious if he knew I was sitting here feeling sorry for him. _She smiled to herself; "Carry on, please... before he comes back" she added and Poppy did so. "Very well. There was one particular encounter that shocked me the most, young Mr Black and Mr Potter... well they tried to... kill Severus" Poppy stopped, she wasn't used to telling anyone about this, she drank more tea and Hermione began to shake as all of that sadness and sympathy came back, with a few more feelings that she didn't quite understand but she was sure anger was in one of them. "W-What happened?" Hermione asked. Regaining control of her emotions Poppy continued "Young Severus turned to Potter's lover and asked her to help him. But she didn't, and he... he made the mistake in calling her... a mudblood. Now Hermione you can't be angry with him for-" Hermione shook her head "I'm not angry with _him_ Madam Pomfrey, I do understand" she said, and she was telling the truth. "Good" Poppy replied "Well obviously, this young lady didn't understand, and that was the end of their friendship. Severus was furious with himself". Hermione interrupted at that point, "Madam Pomfrey, do you think that's why he became a death eater? Not for revenge, I mean because he felt like he didn't belong anywhere and death eaters sort of offer belonging to something?" She asked and Poppy smiled back at her "Yes Hermione, I'm quite sure that is the exact reason that Severus joined them". Hermione thought to herself for a moment then asked another question; "Madam Pomfrey, didn't Professor Snape tell any of the teachers about what happened?" she asked. And at this point Poppy looked down at the floor "Yes, he did. And so did I. But... they weren't interested. They always made Severus out to be the bad one. Oh he wasn't a saint Hermione, he found some dark spells and used them on the Maraurders but... the Maraurders outnumbered him by One to Four. If I was in his position, I'd have probably done some dark things to them if I could". Hermione nodded in agreement, "is there anything else I should know then Madam Pomfrey?" Poppy nodded "Yes... Severus' love and young Mr Potter had a child together. Severus was in love with the mother of your best friend. You can't tell him Hermione, you really can't. But the night that Harry's parents were murdered, Severus had found out just moments after it had actually happened, and it broke him. He wasn't involved in it Hermione, he really had no idea until Pettigrew told him. I have already asked him all of this, you know if it was some sort of revenge and he broke down in front of me kneeled to the floor and promised me that he played no part in it, the fact that he thought I believed that he did made him so weak. Anway... Severus hexed Pettigrew and made his way over to the Potter's house. Then realising that Harry was alive, he turned to Dumbledore, and said he'd give anything to help him take down the Dark Lord". Hermione was in tears, she couldn't hold them back anymore, "And Professor Dumbledore asked him to be his spy, and to help him look after Harry" Hermione said, finishing it off for Poppy who nodded at her. "Read them medical records in your own time Hermione" Poppy said. "I will, so will I be helping you aid him tonight?" Hermione asked. "No, you'll watch and get a good idea of the spells I use. And well, we'll be telling Severus tonight too, he won't be too badly harmed". Hermione nodded then all of a sudden the pair of them jumped out of their skins as a rather familiar deep, exhausted voice spoke from behind them "Tell me what?" there stood Severus with his arms folded, he looked tired but curious as he glared at Poppy. His robes were torn and cuts showed through the tares, he was covered in blood from head to toe but he was obviously hiding any pain. His face was as expressionless as ever, the only real feeling he was showing was tiredness, but that wasn't really a weakness and it couldn't be helped. It did mean that he would be even more defiant and as snappy as ever and he clearly didn't want to be kept waiting in the dark by what was going on at the moment.

Hermione froze in her seat, she couldn't look at him. She dabbed at her eyes to wipe the tears and looked at Poppy who was staring at Severus looking rather shocked. "Severus... I don't think now is the time" Poppy said shakily. "Oh just tell me, I know something's been going on for a while and I have a strong idea of what it is, either way I know I'm not going to like it, get it over with" he barked. Poppy looked nervously at Hermione to see if she was going to tell him herself, but Hermione was in too much shock and Poppy looked back at a rather impatient looking Snape. "Very well Severus, I shall keep it short and sweet and then we can look at you" Poppy responded. Hermione's stomach was churning, _Oh god... he's going to kill me_. "Young Miss Granger here wishes to study healing and she's a very fast learner, she needs it to help Potter if he is ever in need of aid, or anyone else on our side for that matter" she smiled slightly. "Absoloutely not! No way Poppy am I letting this happen. Not if I have anything to do with it" Severus growled looking angrily at Poppy who stood up and shouted back at him, "Severus Snape! This is _MY_ hopsital wing in case you have forgotten. What _I_ say goes". Severus backed off a little for a while and the two of them just stood staring at each other. After a while he sighed "I suppose I get no say in this at all" he said, now glaring at Hermione who still didn't look at him. "So, let's get this over with". He started to make his way to the bed that Hermione was both sat beside. _Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me_. She watched him with her head bowed down a little as he perched onto the edge of the bed facing Poppy, with his back to Hermione. She exhaled slowly. _Thank God for that._ Hermione watched as Poppy muttered a few spells and moved her wand at the cuts. He didn't even twitch, not once. "Not too bad tonight Severus" Poppy smiled as she continued to heal the cuts on him. "No, the Dark Lord focused on someone else tonight" Severus said rather calmly. Hermione wasn't listening much, she was making mental notes of the spells that were being used. After a short while Poppy finished "Right, Severus I think it's only best if you escort Hermione to the dormitory. That way if either of you get caught, I'm sure you can come up with an intelligent excuse" she said looking at them both. _Oh this is not happening_. Hermione looked up at her potions master who was very clearly not warming to the idea. He stood up and looked at Poppy then at Hermione, "very well. Miss Granger". He moved to the door slowly, half-waiting for her. She exchanged glances with Poppy nervously then left the hospital wing before him. "She was here the other night wasn't she?" Severus asked Poppy who nodded, he sighed and groaned frowning at her then followed Hermione to the Gryffindor common room. They walked in complete silence for a while until even Severus found it too awkward and broke the ice, clearing his throat he glanced at her hand "How's the hand?" he asked. Hermione smiled a little "it's getting much better, thanks to you" she replied. He didn't look back at her, and they remained silent until they arrived outside the portrait that held the passage to the common room. "Not a word to any of your little friends Miss Granger" Severus said sounding rather tired, he was slightly slurring. She smiled to herself then looked up at him, he was staring back down at her; his eyes were black and his face was pale. She looked at his features slowly; remembering everything that had happened to this man that stood in front of her and everything that he was doing for their side in the was. _I really did get you all wrong - but then everyone else has too_. She smiled at him again "I already promised Madam Pomfrey, but yes I promise you too sir. Good night Professor - and thanks for letting me do this. I just want to help". He didn't say anything back, but his eyes softened a little and he gave what appeared to be a half-smile before turning around and walking away.

* * *

**_Hope I'm not moving too fast! More of Umbridge coming up soon. How lovely..._**


	6. Chapter 6

The following morning Severus was back in his personal quarters sitting at his desk. He'd not managed any sleep and had spent the majority of the night and early morning over-thinking everything that he had witnessed with Miss Granger. He _should _have felt angry and he _should_ have not let her continue with these healing lessons. What worried him the most though was how much Hermione actually knew about him now, obviously she knew he was a spy for Dumbledore. _But how much else does she know? Would Poppy keep it from me if she'd told her more? _He shivered as another thing entered his mind; he was worried about what Hermione thought the reason he was spying for Dumbledore was. Obviously she knew that he didn't do it out of the kindness in his heart, if he knew Hermione Granger at all, he'd know fully well that she would've asked ten thousand questions on why he was on their side, why he spies and risks his life every day for them all. _I hope she doesn't learn the real reason._ He sat back for a moment and stared at a rather old-looking, shabby clock on his wall. It was five in the morning now and he had three hours until he'd have to show his face at breakfast. He put his feet up at his desk and leaned back in his chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible in his seat as he closed his eyes, occluding all of those negative thoughts, he fell asleep.

Severus was getting dressed when there was a sudden knock at the door of his personal quarters. He mumbled something unpleasant under his breath as he fastened the last of his buttons and moved over to the old wooden door to open it. "Morning Severus," Minerva stood before him giving him a slight smile. "Will you be joining us for breakfast? I've heard Dolores is going to announce her new 'important role' in front of the students." _Oh I'm not missing this for the world_. Severus smirked, "of course. I wouldn't want to let her down by not showing my full support would I?" he said sarcastically then stepped outside closing the door behind him and walked with McGonagall to breakfast. Along the way he started to recall what had happened the night before; and he wasn't angry. _It's not so bad I suppose. Miss Granger is a bright student. She better not tell Potter or Weasley though. It's awkward enough to teach the son of James let alone have him know I'm actually trying to protect him_. He started to worry slightly; _she wouldn't would she? No... I doubt it_. He was grateful that McGonagall was not one for small talk in the morning, she was just as much of a morning person as he was in fact. However, this was even too awkward for Severus and he could tell that there was some something wrong with his work colleague. "Heard off Dumbledore?" he asked raising an eyebrow, he really didn't care how the man was but McGonagall and Dumbledore were close friends and she would be concerned for him. "No... I've heard nothing" she replied, sounding rather annoyed and stressed. Severus barked a slight laugh, "typical from the old man, although that is low from him. Don't look at me like that Minerva, he's being a coward and a fool. He didn't have to go with the ministry and he didn't have to leave _her_ in charge." There was a silence for a few moments before Minerva calmly replied: "I just hope he comes back soon." Severus knew well enough to leave it at that; _I don't._

They entered the great hall and Severus sat at his usual seat, Minerva sat beside him and Umbridge was standing where Dumbledore usually did. Severus scowled at her in disgust and heard Minerva chuckle to herself, sometimes he pulled that face without even realising. He stared blankly at the food in front of him, the other teachers had already started eating rather than wait for the students to come in. Severus wasn't waiting for them though, he really wasn't feeling hungry at all, the look and smell of the food just made his stomach turn. It also wasn't safe for him to eat some foods, as he was on a lot of medication because of the injuries he had. He stared at a piece of bacon and shuffled it around the plate with his fork. The students started to come in at this point, they all looked at Umbridge rather confused at where she was standing and the reasons behind it. One familiar Gryffindor face caught Severus' eye, her eyes looked slightly tired from the distance and Severus guessed she'd slept just as well as he had last night. She had probably been as nervous as hell, he was the bastard of a potions teacher Professor Snape after all. Besides the tiredness, her pretty face still glowed enough to light up a room. _Wait... pretty?_. Severus frowned to himself, then continued to watch her and for a split second her eyes flickered around the room and met his eyes. The gaze lasted for a few seconds before she gave him a rather nervous looking smile. "Go on then Severus, what's this cunning plan of yours?" Minerva had apparently finished eating and stared at him curiously. Severus - lost for a few moments, turned his head to face McGonagall, breaking off the eye contact with Hermione and realising that he had smiled slightly back at the girl. He drew his face back to his usual scowl and arched an eyebrow, "I couldn't possibly know what you're talking about" he teased. Before Minerva had a chance to reply, Umbridge had eagerly started to speak.

"Good morning Hogwarts, I'm sure you're all wondering why I've summoned you all for an assembly." She chuckled to herself, making Severus cringe. _summoned? She sounds worse than that snake-faced bastard._ He shivered then continued to listen, "So I'll make this short and sweet, I've made a few home rules of my own and you will find these rules on the wall where the old ones were," that earned her a reaction. The students were moaning and groaning and the staff just looked around at each other. "Quiet!" she screamed rather squeamish, making everyone silence immediately and stare at her - as displeasing to the eye it was. After they had quieted down she smiled looking rather pleased with herself as she continued, "I think it is only fair that I tell you one of the rules now, and that rule is that NO ONE is allowed to leave the premises of the school and to make sure that this doesn't happen the ministry have allowed me to place dementors outside the school gates." Everyone seemed shocked, they all talked among themselves, first years looked terrified. _You foolish woman_. Severus' attention turned to Potter as he saw the boy stand up, his face was red and full of rage. _Just like his father_. He looked quickly at Hermione who was trying her best to stop Harry but really stood no chance. "Dumbldore is going to have you for this!" Harry shouted across the room at the toad-faced old woman in pink. Everyone stared nervously at Harry and then at Umbridge as the tension between the two built for a moment and then Umbridge spoke, clearing her throat; "Professor Dumbledore is away on... let's call it a behalf of the ministry." Harry slowly sat down shaking his head as everyone whispered to each other, and on that note Umbridge left the hall.

* * *

Later that evening Hermione was back in Gryffindor tower with the boys, her and Ron had been trying to cheer up Harry all day but were both failing rather miserably. "You know, on the noticeboard underneath the rule about not being able to leave the castle, it says that it's because it would distract our learning. Yet she isn't letting us learn anything to defend ourselves. Don't you think it's a bit daft? She says we haven't got anything to defend ourselves from but then she sets dementors outside the school gates!" Ron spoke, breaking the silence between them all. Hermione nodded, agreeing with him. "You're right Ronald, that woman has no idea in what she's doing." Hermione looked at Harry, "Harry! Please try to cheer up. I'm doing my best here to think of something we can do to get back at her. But if my attention is distracted by trying to cheer you up or stop you from punching a wall every five minutes, non of us are going to get anywhere" she said. "She's right mate." Ron agreed. Harry lifted his head to look at them, "Hermione, I think you should speak to Professor McGonagall. You need to tell her about what Umbridge did to our hands and ask her if there's a way of bringing Dumbledore back." Harry sounded a little more relaxed in his tone. Hermione nodded "I had that in mind, I'll go see her tomorrow evening. I'm going to get an early night if the two of you don't mind, I've got some reading to do." she stood up and made her way to the stairs to the girls dormitory, turning to face the both of them before saying 'goodnight' and climbing the stairs.

She was glad to find that there was no one else up there, she was probably going to be doing a lot of crying. Taking no chances, she casted a few silencing spells and drew the curtains around her bed. She got into the covers and shuffled aside to allow Crookshanks to curl up by her side, "I'm going to need you tonight Crooks", she said as the cat purred. Glaring at the book on her lap, she opened the book and began to read the medical records of Severus Tobias Snape:

'Severus seems to have suffered a few broken ribs, the bruising is old - he suffered them before arriving at Hogwarts'.

That was the first one to upset Hermione, her parents were always busy with work, but she never even recalled a moment where they raised their voices to her, let alone hurt her. She didn't even want to think about what had happened to him. She continued to read a few more pages and she found what looked like the start of the bullying, it was after Christmas in Severus' first year:

'Severus was brought in to the hospital wing today by Miss Evans, blows to the groin, head and chest'. Hermione took a deep breath to fight back tears. She remembered primary school, she'd been bullied but not like this. The other children teased her and called her names, mocking her intelligence and eagerness to learn new things. It was still not a nice thing to go through, but it was nothing like this, the worst memory she had was when she accidentally used magic in front of a muggle and ended up hurting him. The boy was calling her names and laughing at her, and he'd been standing under a tree when Hermione had made one of the branches fall down and clout him on the head and knock him out completely. She felt terrible, but still he had it coming she thought. She continued to read more of the incidents, similar ones just repeated themselves and Hermione noticed that there were just so many horrible spells used against him. She was just over half-way through when she read something horrifying:

'Minerva found Severus in the boys toilets, he had deep wounds around his wrists and neck - Severus tried to resist any help - possibly suicide.' Hermione placed her bookmark in the book as tears filled her eyes. She couldn't hold them back any more. _They drove him that far. I don't think I'll ever look at Sirius the same after this._ She dabbed at the tears in her eyes and placed the book underneath her bed, out of sight from anyone. _That's quite enough for tonight - I feel bad enough as it is. He'd kill me if he knew..._ She rested her head down onto her pillow and snuggled up to Crookshanks, unable to get her potions master out of her mind as more tears started to form in her eyes.


End file.
